The Indian As A Citizen

A pet écheme with certain philanthropists for settling tho Indian question is to malte liira (the Indian) s citizen. ïhis seems cruel irony when we consider that the red man was the first citizen this country had, of whom there is any authentic record. And a first-class citizen he was, too; opulenl in lands, rich in water privileges and fabulousl)' wealthy in undevoloped mines and oil territory. He was a citizen from the ground up, and would be now were he not so fearfully ground up. In that early day he did all the voting and held all the offices, and if that doosn't constituía a citizen we don't know what does. When a meeting of cilizens was summoned to delibérate upou some subject of publio moment, who but Iudians responded to the oall? They always elected an aborigino to preside, and such a thing as putting a Germán in the list of vice-prosidents to couciliate tho colored lrish vote was never thonght of. When Columbus first landed, whlch eonstituted liim tho first landed propriBtor, the committee of citizens that carao down to C;istle Garden to welcome liim was composed exclusively of Indians. And the citizens who lined both sides of Broadway to see the prooession march up town to the hotel were all Indians, too. What did it all mean? Why, it meant that the citizens of one country were paying their respects to a representativo citizen of another country. No thought of denyIng the right of citizenship to the Indian then. Besides belng the Tery first citizens, the Indians couid boaat of roany accomplisbruents. ïliey were familar with the best American literature of the day - well red men, in fact, sickness being little known ninong them. As for the fine arts, wliere would you find darts more thorouchly oultirated, though this may be an arrow view to take of it Their tattooing shows that they knw something of engraving on copper. Added to tbis they were versed in verst in tbe world. But all these accomplishments did not avail thcm. Another civ.lization and another form of citizenship, fnunded largely on whiskv aud naturalization papers, crowded them out. We beüeve it is better to let the Indian remain as hn is, and not try to restore h in to his lost citizenship. j Unable to compreheud our institutions i and the system under whicli our ernment allow.s itn agenta to clieat and j rob lim, how could he undorstand the i matchless Constitution of his- we mnan our. country? He couldn't do it And if he should I bncoiuo a citizen entitled to vote you : Benldn't pack a convention with him. He loves the frre air. and the smell i emanating from a hall packed with ward bnmmers would make him so p.ck tliat he would throw up his certific-.ite of election as a d elegate and be tlirown out. anyhow. We would like to have him tried as a torch bearer in a procession, however, just to see him calp the noisiest men In the crowd, as he would inevitably do. No, the Indian wouldn't bc worth a red in politics, and we think he is too far gone to